The pot industry already has made more contributions to Capitol Hill politicians this year than in all of 2018, an analysis by an anti-weed legalization group found.
According to Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Federal Election Commission filings show marijuana industry groups and related companies have given $305,675 to members of Congress in the first half of 2019, compared with $248,504 in 2018.
Heading the list of politicians at the receiving end is Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who collected nearly $60,000 from the pot industry; he also was the top recipient among incumbents seeking reelection last year, with $33,176 in contributions, the SAM analysis found.
"The flow of political donations from the marijuana industry to elected officials has grown exponentially over the last few years as massive investment from the titans of addiction has increased," Kevin Sabet, president of SAM and a drug policy adviser in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, said in a statement, The Hill reported.
"Big Marijuana is dutifully following the playbook of Big Tobacco and part of that strategy was greasing the wheels on public policy with donations. Another key aspect was keeping those donations under the radar, we aren't going to let that happen," he added.
In 2018, other top recipients of pot industry donations were Reps. Dina Titus, D-Nev., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif., The Hill reported.
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